A market is a place where you meet different kinds of people in character and attitude, be they traders or consumers. My everyday prayer when I go to the market is not to meet anyone, either a trader or my fellow consumer, who will annoy me because some dramas can be so funny, especially in Nigeria. Some random person might just pick a fight unnecessarily, and before you know it, you might be dragged into it either as an alibi or witness. I always try as much as possible to avoid such situations. I'm not so good at explaining fights, so I don't want anyone asking me irrelevant questions, especially the market women, they can be so funny sometimes.
image source is mine
I've heard quite a lot of experiences with market women and their ways of persuading one to buy their goods. Some of their ways do seem embarrassing and, at the same time, fun; I can't blame them for it; they just wanted to make sales and have more customers. There was a time when I wanted to buy catfish, and I was negotiating with the seller on the price I wished to pay for three pieces of sizeable fish. In the process of the negotiation, I told him I wouldn't pay such an amount of money if the fish were not big. Then he made mention of some quite embarrassing things but at the same time humorous. He said, "I'm sure you won't go for a small-sized man because you seem to like big things using his arm to demonstrate what he meant by not settling for a small man.
It sounds quite embarrassing because I was wondering what he thought before saying such a thing to me just to buy the fish from him, but yet it made me laugh. At last, I ended up buying the fish from him, and since then, I have become his customer; anytime I needed catfish, I always go to his stall to get my fish. Apart from fish, I also had the same experience when I wanted to buy cucumber and carrots, which I wanted to use for salad, but then I understood their strategy was just for me to buy from them.
Another experience I had was when I wanted to buy Titus fish, known as alaran, in the market yesterday. This is why it's so good for a lady to know the differences between foodstuffs and seafood. Almost everything in the world now has duplicate, there are two different types of Titus (alaran) fish. There is one they called pure white, which is the real and original Titus fish, it has a great taste, and it's delicious. There is another one called orobo, meaning fat; this particular one is big and deceiving. It's not as delicious as the original one, and it has more stripes than the original Titus fish.
When I got to the seller and asked if she had the original Titus fish, the pure white, she said yes, and I asked her to show me what she had. When she brought two pieces out, I smiled and asked her if it was the original one, and she affirmatively said it was. I told her it wasn't and she began to use different strategies to convince me into buying the fish. In her words, she told me it was so delicious, and there was no other original one than the ones she had brought out for me. She then said I should buy them and cook them, and if it doesn't turn out the way I wanted, I should bring the cooked one and help her with semo to eat it with. I smiled and told her I was not buying it as it wasn't what I wanted, and I left. She tried to convince me, but her strategy didn't work on me; I would have regretted buying it if I eventually gave in to her persuasion because I knew it wasn't what I wanted.
Thanks for your time, and your comments will be appreciated.
